Dilated Cardiomyopathy
What is dilated cardiomyopathy? Dilated cardiomyopathy is a form of heart disease in which the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, stretches and thins (dilates) and can’t pump blood as well as a healthy heart. Dilated, meaning enlarged, cardio, meaning heart, myo, meaning muscle, and pathy, meaning disease. So, this directly means that it’s a disease of the heart muscle. There are multiple types of cardiomyopathy, such as idiopathic, hypertrophic, restrictive, arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. Although there are many forms of the disease, dilated cardiomyopathy is strictly the left ventricle, and can be watered down one explanation__ heart’s ability to pump blood is decreased because the part
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Unfortunately, doctors are unaware of specific causes. There is not any one thing that can cause DCM, but rather a multitude of factors that may heighten the chances of getting the disease. Factors may include genetics, congenital (present at birth) heart defects, drugs and alcohol use, high blood pressure, diabetes, viral infections of the heart, pregnancy and childbirth, poor diet, and so on and so forth. Unlike many other diseases, dilated cardiomyopathy can vary on how the patient with said disease will get it. Some may get it from alcoholism or substance abuse, while another may get it because of genetic factors. According to the website Merckmanuals.com, 20-35% of all cases are caused by genetics. Dilated cardiomyopathy that seemingly has no cause is called …show more content…
That part of the heart, called the left ventricle, stretches and can’t pump blood properly. DCM can cause many complications in a person’s life. According to the Mayo Clinic website, heart failure, fluid build up, abnormal heart rhythm, heart valvle regurgitation, cardiac arrest, and blood clots may happen as a result of dilated cardiomyopathy. This disease can cause many complications in a person’s life and it is not an easy disease to live with. It will make seemingly easy and normal tasks very hard, such as going up a flight of stairs or walking a few blocks. It cannot be cured but has many types of medications and devices to try to treat it. Diagnosis is not easy since the symptoms are usually minor and can be confused for other diseases, but doctors are able to diagnose their patients through a series of tests. Anyone can get DCM even if they lead the perfect life, refraining from involving in harmful
4. Right Ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) – In a normal heart, the left ventricle has a rather thicker wall than the right due to the fact that it has to pump oxygenated blood to the body as opposed to the right ventricle which only needs to pump deoxygenated blood to the lungs. However, Tetralogy of Fallot causes an enlargement of the right ventricular muscle due to the pulmonary stenosis in the pulmonary
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, also known as HCM, is a type of heart disease that affects the Cardiac Muscles and Cardiac Muscle cells. This disease occurs if the Cardiac Muscle cells enlarge, which causes the wall of the heart’s ventricles (most often the left ventricle) to thicken. It can also cause stiffness in the ventricles, as well as mitral valve and cellular changes.
Cardiomyopathy, by definition, means the weakening of the heart muscle. The heart is operated by a striated muscle that relies on the autonomic nervous system to function. Cardiomyopathy is diagnosed in four different ways based on what caused the illness and exactly what part of the heart is weakened. The four main types of cardiomyopathy are dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, restrictive cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. One other category of cardiomyopathy that is diagnosed is “unclassified cardiomyopathy.” Unclassified cardiomyopathy is the weakening of the heart that does not fit into the main four categories.
Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is a rare form of muscular dystrophy characterized by early onset contractures of the elbows, achilles tendons and post-cervical muscles with progressive muscle wasting and weakness It is also associated with heart complications like cardiomyopathy and arrhythmia which in both cases can lead to death. Cardiomyopathy is a heart disease which affects the muscles of the heart. In cardiomyopathy is muscles get rigid, enlarged or thick. They also sometimes changed by scar tissues. On the other hand arrhythmia is a disorder with the rhythm or rate of heartbeat. The heart can beat fast, which is called tachycardia or it could be beating too slow, which is called bradycardia. Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy is characterized by early onset of contractures and humeroperoneal distribution. Humeroperoneal refers to effects on the humerus and fibula. The genes known to be responsible for EDMD encode proteins associated with the nuclear envelope: the emerin and the lamins A and C.
This condition is said to start within the sacromeric proteins, as past studies has called this disorder ‘the disease of the sacromere’ 6. The muscle around the left ventricle is so strong that is does not relax enough after contraction to regenerate blood back into the heart 5. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was discovered in approximately 50% of young individuals who died suddenly 5. A recent study observed the genes associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Within 20 sacromere and myofilament related genes, there were 1400 mutations noted in HCM 6. The mutations within the sacromere prevent normal shortening that causes the muscle to contract stronger, reducing relaxation. However, all the mutated genes are not proven to cause hypertrophy. The MYH7 gene seems to be the most frequent as 25-35% of patients with mild or severe HCM had this gene present 6. Despit...
The skeletal and ultimate cardiac muscle fibers are affected by DMD. The disease starts by affecting the lower port...
Cardiovascular disease has become an increasingly significant issue in many countries as it is the leading cause of death for the whole human population. According to World Health Organization, ischemic heart disease had caused about 7 million people to lose their life in 2011. One of the most common cardiovascular illnesses is myocardial infarction. It is defined as the death of cardiac myocytes due to complete blockage of a coronary artery. t-PA is a thrombolytic drug that used to treat myocardial infarction by dissolving the thrombus that causes the occlusion.
Tokgozoglu, L. S., Ashizawa, T., Pacifico, A., Armstrong, R. M., Epstein, H. F., Zoghbi, W. A. Cardiac involvement in a large kindred with myotonic dystrophy: quantitative assessment and relation to size of CTG repeat expansion. JAMA 274: 813-819, 1995.
...ufficiently nourish the organs. This blood flow shortage causes severe damage to organs and tissue. Symptoms of cardiomyopathy include shortness of breath and other breathing difficulties, fatigue, swollen legs and feet, and irregular heartbeat. It can lead to heart failure.
Systolic and Diastolic are the two types of heart failure. Systolic dysfunction occurs when the heart muscle doesn't contract with enough force, which means there is less oxygen-rich blood that is pumped throughout the body. Diastolic dysfunction is when the heart contracts normally, but the ventricle does not relax properly, reducing the amount of blood that can enter the heart and raising the blood pressure in the lungs. Heart failure is a progressive condition and can worsen over time. There are four stages of heart failure that have been classified by the AHA and ACC.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an inherited disease that affects the cardiac muscle of the heart, causing the walls of the heart to thicken and become stiff. [1] On a cellular level, the sarcomere increase in size. As a result, the cardiac muscles become abnormally thick, making it difficult for the cells to contract and the heart to pump. A genetic mutation causes the myocytes to form chaotic intersecting bundles. A pathognomonic abnormality called myocardial fiber disarray. [2,12] How the hypertrophy is distributed throughout the heart is varied. Though, in most cases, the left ventricle is always affected. [3] The heart muscle can thicken in four different patterns. The most common being asymmetrical septal hypertrophy without obstruction. Here the intraventricular septum becomes thick, but the mitral valve is not affected. Asymmetrical septal hypertrophy with obstruction causes the mitral valve to touch the septal wall during contraction. (Left ventricle outflow tract obstruction.) The obstruction of the mitral valve allows for blood to slowly flow from the left ventricle back into the left atrium (Mitral regurgitation). Symmetrical hypertrophy is the thickening of the entire left ven...
“Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through to meet the body's needs for blood and oxygen” (American Heart Association, 2012, para 3). What this basically means is that the body is functioning in a way that the heart cannot keep up with. Although heart failure can be acute and occur suddenly, it usually develops over time and is a long-term or chronic condition. There are two different types of heart failure, left-sided and right-sided, and they can be caused by other diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, or high blood pressure (National Institutes of Health, 2012). In most cases, both sides of the heart are affected simultaneously.
Coronary heart disease or coronary artery disease affects 16.8 million people in the United States and causes more than 607,000 deaths annually (Lemone, chap.30). It is caused by atherosclerosis which is the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries causing impaired blood flow to the myocardium. CAD or coronary artery syndrome is usually without symptoms but may induce heart attack, angina and acute coronary syndrome if not properly treated. There are many risk factors associated with CAD like obesity, high cholesterol diet, hereditary, physical inactivity, just to name a few. Patients with CAD may be unable to identify and manage their risks factors. It is imperative for nurses to educate the patient about CAD and measures to enhance their health.
What is coronary heart disease (CHD)? It is a disease when plaque gets built up in the coronary arteries; and the job of the arteries are to provide rich-oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. Built plaque in the arteries leads to atherosclerosis and the plaque that is built can result from over the years. Throughout the years, the plaque tends to get hard or can rupture. If hardened, the arteries are now narrow and have weakened the flow of blood that travels to the heart. Blood clots can form from the plaque rupturing which can cause a great chance for the blood flow to be mostly blocked or blocked altogether. There are other names for coronary heart disease such as coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, etc.
In conclusion it is important to remember that dilated cardiomyopathy is the most common form of cardiomyopathy. There are a variety of acknowledged triggers but often the cause of the dilated cardiomyopathy is unknown. Early identification of the disease aids in proper medical care and may